The Palatka daily news. (Palatka, Fla.) 1884-1888, 1887-05-20
HOW FEEL, TO BE HANGED.
The Sensation of an Expert Described b,
Himseif-His last Remark
New York Sun.

4
The Sensation of an Expert Described by
Himseif-Hi. last Remark.
New York sun.
SPRINGFIELD, y. VI, May 9.-Theodore
Baker who was hanged here ON Friday
for the murder of Frank Unruh in Col
fax County. wished to be remembered
as the one American who was hanged
| twice for "A single crime In converse
| ton with the Ssus correspondent a short
time after he had received word from
/ Governor Ross that there was no hope
| for him. Baker said:
/ 1T is not tine pain that fear at all.
| have been hanged, and L know what /
| am talking about. What ails me is that
| / don't want to die, and 1 don't think |
ought to- Probably if you knew that in
| an instant you We're to be blown to moth
| ingness, so that you could experience no
| suffering whatever, you would appre-
| ciate how / feel about it. AS for tine
mode of death, you can say that it is as
good as any other, and it don't need to
| be too artistically done, either. Why,
when they hanged me first down here
| by the railroad track, / was scared half
to death. They had no mOrdern appli-
| ances, and L made up my mind
| that they We're going to give me ter
| rible struggle of it, but it was nothing of
the sort. The mob swung me off from
telegraph pole like they would a log, and
then one or two of them pulled my legs.
| That isn't 50 almighty nice, but still it
don't hurt as you might think it would.
/ must have hung there ten or fifteen
minutes before the sheriff and his posse
found me and cut me down. OF course
| by that time / was unconscious, but 1
| remembered enough of what had Oc-
| CURED to Danish any fear that / might
have Of an 10 Ht4f h
| in whatever form it comes that | object
to. If L have got to go / had
just as soon go by the rope as
by the bullet, and | had good deal
rather go by the rope than by the knife
or by poison. You can say this much for
the information and comfort of all the
poor fellows who Will have to swing
when am gone. Tell them to brace up
and take it easy. They are going to die
easier deaths than three-fourths of the
fat old Judges who sentence them and
who expect to die in their beds. There
has been altogether too much writing
and talking on the subject of the bar
barity of the gailows. I'm in favor of
abolishing capital punishment myself
but If a man must die, what's the use of
being too particular about the mode SO
long as you have got good enough
scheme now
Later ON, in speaking about his crime
and his two punshInents, one by the
mob and the other by the law, Baker
said Under all the circumstances my
crime was not murder, any way. L had
become involved in "a quarrel between
Unruh and his wife and, foolish as that
was, it would have Led to nothing more
If Unruh had not attacked me. | had
To kill him or be killed. The woman
swore against me in order to save her
self. She was scared to death because
they lynched me and she was afraid that
unless somebody swung for the crime |
she might be called ON some dark night. |
But whether my crime was deliberate
murder or not, think have been pun
ished enough. 1t is more than "a year
since the mob lynched me and since that |
time L have lived with Il rope around |
my neck all the time. AS | have said to |
you, my suiferinSs when l was being re-
susciated We're greater than they Were |
when 1 was hanging. Ii took me three |
months to get over the effects of the |
lynching. Two or three times a day my
brain would be in a whirl and l would |
lose all control Of myself. Then when | |
slept | would go through it all again. At |
length, when | was brought to trial and |
was convicted and sentenced to death |
had the rope once more before me. The
anxiety about the trial and later
about my appeals has worn ON me until
my nerves u in about as bad condi-
ton as they were when | was in the hos
pital at Santa Fe, and the old complaint
from which | filtered when
was recovering from the lynch
ing has returned again. l haven't
slept for months without hanging by the
neck through it ali. Can you imagine
what it is to be conscious all the time
of dangling in that way? Asleep or
awake | have a rope around my neck,
and | know exactly how it feels. l
think have had enough of it but as they
seem not to think in these parts supposed
shall have to take some more. lean.
tell you, though. that l don't want any
body to bring me to life this time
When go OFT tomorrow l will know
Just what is coming, and when | tell the
sheriff to let me slide, L will be the first
man in America who has lived year
and hall To- say that a second time to a
hangman."
Baker had several warm friends here
who labo ed earnestly in his behalf, and
who regard his punishment as unjustly
severe. He went to the rope unflinch-
ingly, and just before the trap was
sprung. when the attendant shifted the
knot little, he heard Baker say:
That's right; have been in the habit
of having it little higher up